Politics & Government
Portland 911 Gets New Tool To Help Find Location Of Callers
Dispatchers at the BOEC 911 center that takes calls from all over Multnomah County have a new tool to help locate callers.
PORTLAND, OR – The 911 dispatchers at Portland's Bureau of Emergency Communication have a new tool to help locate callers. The tool is particularly helpful finding callers using a cellphone.
The tool, a technology called RapidLite, allows dispatchers to access a national public safety resource that will quickly provide them accurate location data for 911 calls made from all kinds of cell phones.
Before RapidLite, dispatchers used tools that would give them general location information that could be up to 1,000 feet away from the actual location.
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With more than 75 percent of 911 calls coming from cell phones – in Oct. 2018, 31,511 calls came from cellphones compared to 7,987 911 cals that were made from landlines – accurate location information is becoming more important.
Find out what's happening in Portlandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
BOEC's dispatchers are the first in the region to use the RapidLite technology.
Photo of BOEC center via city of Portland.
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